Category Archives: First Nutrition

When you’re just starting out on a fitness journey, it’s not unusual to experience muscle aches for a couple days after your first few workouts. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) can also impact people who’ve taken a few weeks off or are pushing hard to reach an ambitious goal.

A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compares the muscle soreness after-effects of low-volume High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and continuous exercise on untrained adult male subjects.

On separate occasions, 15 men completed 10 minute-long sets at 90% of maximum velocity with minute-long rest intervals at 30% of velocity and 20 minutes of continuous exercise at 60% of maximum velocity. All experienced mild DOMS 24-hours after their exercise session, with no differences between HIIT and continuous effort.

All kinds of athletes use stretching to help improve flexibility and extend range of motion. There are a couple of ways to perform this type of exercise, and a study published in theInternational Journal of Sports Medicine offers suggestions for getting the most out of the practice.

In a review of papers that included 23 articles, researchers found that all stretching protocols improved range of motion over a long-term period, but that static stretching was superior to ballistic and PNF techniques. In another finding, optimal range of motion results were obtained not during a single session, but over time with sessions 5 days a week lasting at least 5 minutes weekly.

If you use your hands to compete in your sport, having greater strength and control might give you the edge you’re looking for. Consider the findings of study on 6 weeks of wrist training published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Subjects were tested before, at 2-week intervals during, and after completing the program. Wrist joints were worked in 6 directions: Flexion, extension, pronation, supination, radial deviation and ulnar deviation. Subjects showed a decrease in motor control errors after 2 weeks of training. Maximum wrist strength increased in all 6 directions after 4 weeks.

A physically fit man is typically stronger than women of the same level fitness, but women have the upper hand when it comes to muscle endurance. Consider the findings of a study from the University of British Columbia conducted in collaboration with the University of Guelph and University of Oregon.

Researchers had 8 men and 9 women matched for their levels of fitness flex their foot against an array of sensors 200 times as fast as they could. The speed, power and torque of their movements were recorded along with fatigue. Male subjects were faster and more powerful, but also fatigued more quickly than female subjects.

By: Saquan Mitchell, MuscleTech Ambassador

One of the first body parts that gets noticed are your arms. While arms are a relatively small muscle group in the body, they are the most coveted. The arm consists of two major muscles: the biceps brachii and the triceps brachii. When training arms, most people tend to forget about the triceps and focus on the biceps. However, without the triceps development, massive arms are not possible.

Here are some of the best exercises to target these muscle groups and develop your arms.

Best Exercises for Biceps

Exercise

Sets/Reps

Barbell Curls

3 x 12

Spider Curls

3 x 8-12

Hammer Curls

4 x 10-15

Alternating Dumbbell Curls

3 x 10 (slow and controlled)

Chin-Ups

3 sets until failure

Best Exercises for Triceps

Exercise

Sets/Reps

Dips

4 x 8-12

Triceps Rope Pulldowns

4 x 8-12

Skullcrushers

4 x 10 (heavy)

Triceps Pushdown Machine

3 sets until failure (superset with tricep kickbacks, light weight)

For each exercise try to increase the weight you are using for every workout by 1 to 5 pounds. At the same time, make sure you are able to maintain near-perfect form. Work on decreasing your rest breaks between sets on your higher volume sets. This will force your body to become more efficient at utilizing fuel. If you follow these steps, work hard, eat right, use the right supplements and sleep well, you will have massive arms in no time!

Want that extra arm pump? Compliment this workout with Platinum 100% Creatine! Creatine acts as a phosphate donor pool to hard-working muscles, allowing you to train harder, for longer. That means real gains in size and strength that can’t go unnoticed!

You’ve probably heard the term runner’s high. It’s usually associated with long distance running. The release of endorphins in the brain is behind this effect. A new study conducted at the University of Turku shows that endorphins are also released during High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

Using positron emission tomography, researchers determined that HIIT significantly increased the release of endorphins compared to a steady state moderate intensity 1-hour run. Scientists theorized this might help your body compensate for the physical and emotional stress of intense exercise.

Hitting the weight room is only one aspect of the muscle building process. You also have to take rest and nutrition into consideration. A study recently published in The Journal of Nutrition helps illustrate nutrition’s importance for maintaining and building lean mass.

Twenty-four healthy older men were given a drink containing 21 grams of leucine-enriched whey protein, 9 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fat and 800 IU vitamin D each morning before breakfast for 6 weeks. Some received a placebo.

Rates of protein synthesis were higher for subjects receiving the whey and vitamin D supplement compared to those who got the placebo. The supplemented group also gained more lean mass.

You’ll find active adults with a variety of different goals working in the weight room to develop bigger muscles. If you’re in the game to get stronger, you might be interested in the findings of a study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Thirty-eight volunteers with no weight training experience took part in an 8-week program that included chest press and leg extension exercises. Some did a high-volume protocol involving 4 sets of reps to failure using their 8 to 12 rep max (RM). Others conducted a simple 1RM test where subjects attempted up to 5 maximal reps.

Although muscle size and endurance increased more for subjects in the high-volume training group, increases in 1RM strength were about the same for both groups.

You might have heard that stretching can have a negative impact on physical performance. Does this happen with all types of stretching, and how long does the effect last? A study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness offers insight into these questions.

Over the course of 3 days, researchers had 12 male taekwondo athletes sprint 20 meters before and after 3 types of stretching exercises: static, ballistic and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). Sprint times increased after all types of stretching, and the effect lasted for 15 to 20 minutes with static and PNF techniques. Sprint times recovered after only 5 minutes with ballistic stretching.

As a general rule, you should allow at least 48 hours for each muscle group to recover from weight training. Exercising different muscles on different days is one way to work around this schedule, but a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggests super sets might require a different approach.

Twenty-five physically active men performed 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps max on 4 different exercises: 2 targeting the legs and 2 for the shoulders. Some did super sets while other subjects separated these exercises. Super sets generated higher muscle activity as well as markers of muscle damage. Researchers concluded that 5 days was not enough time for complete muscle recovery.

If strength and power are important to success in your sport, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research might be of interest. The paper compares the effects of 6 weeks of bench press training with or without the use of elastic bands.

Twice a week, 16 youth league rugby players took part in strength and power development training. Some used elastic bands to deliver 20% of the load on the bench press. Velocity and power were measured at 35%, 45%, 65%, 75%, and 85% of one rep max (1RM) before and after the program.

Both groups increased velocity and power. Variable resistance training with bands produced greater increases in bench press 1RM. Increases in velocity and power were greater at heavier loads for the variable training group compared to lighter loads, where there were smaller differences between groups.

When you hydrolyze a protein, you break larger pieces down into smaller pieces. What might this process offer active adults who incorporate hydrolyzed whey into their supplementation strategy? A study published in Journal of the American College of Nutrition offers some interesting findings.

Researchers gave 56 men with weight training experience a 30 gram serving of whey protein concentrate or hydrolyzed whey concentrate twice daily for 8 weeks. During this time, subjects performed 2 upper body training sessions and 2 lower body training sessions each week.

After the training period, upper body one rep max (1RM) increased 4% to 7% and lower body 1RM increased 24% to 35% with no significant differences between groups. Subjects who got hydrolyzed whey concentrate lost an average of 6% body fat. Subjects who received a carbohydrate placebo gained around 4.4% body fat.

We’re all a little different in terms of physiology. That’s why some people have an easier time building muscle and losing fat compared to others. In addition to these individual differences, what we eat can have an impact on the maximal rate of fat oxidation during exercise. Consider the findings of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers used indirect calorimetry to determine the maximal fat oxidation rates of 305 healthy adult subjects. The average maximal rate of fat oxidation was 0.55 grams per minute. After analyzing dietary intake in the 4 days leading up to testing, they found carbohydrate consumption had a negative association with fat oxidation and fat consumption had a positive association. The variability was around 2.6%.

Resting too long between sets can reduce the effectiveness of your power development workout. It’s also an easy way to annoy people waiting their turn on the equipment. If you’re not sure how to plan this element of your weight training, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research offers some guidelines to consider.

The peak power output of 18 men and 20 women was used to group subjects by strength. Then all subjects did 5 sets of bench throws for 8 reps using 40% of their 1 rep max. Factoring in reported rates of perceived exertion, ability to maintain power output and muscle soreness 48 hours after training, stronger subjects only needed 2 minutes of between sets rest while weaker subjects required 3 minutes.

Pacing a marathon is going to be a lot different from the way you’d approach a 4-minute run. For those who compete in shorter-distance track events, a study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance offers some practical pacing advice.

On separate occasions, researchers had 5 male and 5 female recreational runners compete in a series of 4-minute time trials on a motor-driven treadmill. Although there were no significant differences between events, with the distance covered ranging from 1,137 meters to 1,090 meters, the best performances tended to begin with aggressive pacing during the first 2 minutes.

Being a fit female with normal iron levels can make a difference of 0.34 in your grade point average (GPA). That could be enough to bump you up one letter grade. The study conducted by Penn State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was published in The Journal of Nutrition.

Researchers analyzed data on 105 female college students with an average GPA of 3.68. Subjects who were fit and had the highest levels of stored iron tended to have higher grades than unfit subjects with iron deficiency. Consider that iron helps transport oxygen in the blood. Iron deficiency has also been associated with fatigue and a reduced capacity for work.

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Many athletes can enhance playing performance with greater power, and there’s more than one way to develop this attribute. Consider a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that compared traditional power training to a high-intensity power training circuit.

Twenty-nine healthy men in their early 20s trained 3 times a week for 6 weeks. The traditional power training group did 3 to 5 sets per exercise with 90 seconds of rest between sets. The high-intensity group did a short circuit with 15 seconds of rest between exercises.

Both groups significantly increased power as measured by countermovement jumps, power load bench press performance and the Wingate test. But only subjects in the high-intensity group realized an increase in maximal aerobic speed.

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Maybe your personal trainer tells you to use a wider grip on the barbell. That’s an internal focus. If they instructed you to place your hands closer to the weight room’s walls, the focus would be external. The instructions are the same, but a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggests the outcomes might be different.

On separate occasions, researchers directed 8 male and 4 female competitive athletes to perform the snatch for 3 reps using 80% of their one rep max. When the focus was internal, subjects increased elbow velocity. Internal focus also tended to make subjects squat too soon. Barbell velocity increased when external focus was used.

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It’s easy to see how texting or talking on a cell phone during exercise could reduce the impact of the effort. A study published in the journals Computers in Human Behavior and Performance Enhancement & Health suggests multi-tasking with your phone can also have a negative effect on balance.

Researchers had 45 college students text, talk and listen to music on their cell phones while exercising. Texting reduced postural stability by 45%. Talking reduced this measurement of balance by 19%, but just using the phone to listen to music has no impact on balance.

The Branched Chain Amino Acids are Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine. They are sometimes included as components of intra-workout supplements because they can help spare muscle tissue during extended training. A study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness tested their ability to attenuate decreases in power production after strength training.

Researchers assessed the countermovement jumping and seated shot put throwing performance of 11 men with weight room experience. Some were given 20 grams of BCAAs while others received a placebo before and after a session of compound barbell exercises. Although there were no differences in muscle soreness 24 hours after training, BCAAs did help reduce typical decrements in functional power a day after the workout.

If you’re just getting back to the gym after an extended time away or decided to make a commitment to regular exercise for the first time, a McMaster University study published in the journal PLOS ONE suggests choosing High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) over moderate intensity steady-state effort.

Researchers had young inactive subjects take on an exercise program consisting of HIIT or moderate intensity steady state effort. The enjoyment for both groups was about the same when the programs started. After subjects gained strength and increased their level of fitness, the enjoyment of HIIT workouts increased while the experience of subjects doing the lower intensity routine ranged from unchanged to less enjoyable.

Exercise activates signaling between hypothalamus region of your brain and your pituitary and adrenal glands. But what happens when the only time you have available to work out is late at night? A study published in The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness analyzed the effects using 20 male medical students.

According to sleep diaries kept by subjects, and saliva samples taken the morning after a 90 minute late night football match, there was no impact on sleep quality or cortisol response, but the 9:30 PM timing of exercise did alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal signaling the following day.

Nitrates and other nitric oxide supporting ingredients are popular components of many sports nutrition supplements. What can they do for your weight room workout? A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research put nitrates to the test using a dozen recreationally active men on the bench press.

Some subjects were given 400 mg of nitrate while others got a placebo before performing 3 sets to failure using 60% of their one rep max. All got 2 minutes of rest between sets. Even though there were no real differences in ratings of perceived exertion or lactate buildup, nitrate supplementing subjects did significantly more reps to failure and lifted a greater total amount of weight.

Back in 1963, researchers found that substituting while bread with bread containing 140 grams of rolled oats lowered LDL cholesterol. Now a meta-analysis of 58 controlled trials published online in the British Journal of Nutrition attempts to get more specific on the cardiovascular benefits of eating oat fiber.

Analyzing the diets of 4,000 subjects from around the world, researchers estimated that daily supplementation with 3.5 grams of beta-glucan fiber from oat could lower LDL cholesterol by an average of 4.2%. Working some into your diet isn’t likely to tip the scale too much. One cup of cooked oat bran amounts to just 88 calories.

Insulin sensitivity is a condition where insulin can’t effectively regulate blood levels of the glucose the cells in your body use for energy and other functions. Since a couple hours of moderate intensity exercise actually increase blood sugar levels, a University of Michigan study published in the journal PLOS ONE looks into the impact of diet.

Thirty two healthy women were fed meals where either 30% or 60% of the calories came from carbohydrates. After the 3rd meal, subjects in the low carb group showed a 30% reduction in insulin resistance. There was no reduction in the higher carb group, and the amount of carbs they consumed was within the range of Department of Health and Human Services recommendations…

Low levels of testosterone can lead to fatigue as well as decreased muscle and bone mass. Fortunately, your body’s natural production of this hormone can be altered through diet and exercise. A study presented at the Integrative Biology of Exercise 7 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona measured the effect of 12 weeks of aerobic exercise on 16 normal eight and 28 overweight men.

Researchers had subjects walk or jog for between 40 and 60 minutes per session performed 1 to 3 days per week. At the end of the program, overweight subjects had lost weight and significantly increased testosterone levels. Results were best in subjects who exercised vigorously. Normal weight subjects did not see such a dramatic testosterone increase.

Your body’s preferred fuel source for short bursts of intense effort is muscle glycogen. Consuming carbohydrates after exercise can help replace the glycogen used during a weight training workout, and a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology provides insight into how you can optimize the process.

During the first 4 hours following exercise, glycogen resynthesis can be stimulated with 1 gram of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight. So the carbohydrate consumption target for a 150 pound athlete would be around 68 grams. How you eat carbohydrates throughout the rest of the day should be geared toward meeting the demands of tomorrow’s training or competition.

New research reveals just how much protein you need after a workout to optimize muscle building.

The conundrum surrounding post-workout nutrition isn’t so much about what to eat as much as how much to eat. You and I both know protein needs to be a priority following a workout, but the jury is still out on how much protein is needed to maximize muscle growth and repair.

Fortunately, new research has shed some light on the matter. A study published in Physiology Reports sought to determine the impact of two different post-workout protein portions following exercise.[1] Furthermore, it also sought to determine how varying amounts of protein post-workout influenced individuals with significantly different amounts of lean body mass.

Subjects were split into four groups as follows:

Low Lean Body Mass (LLBM), 20 grams of whey protein

Low Lean Body Mass (LLBM), 40 grams of whey protein

High Lean Body Mass (HLBM), 20 grams of whey protein

High Lean Body Mass (HLBM), 40 grams of whey protein

Each group received their protein following two total-body workouts.

Researchers observed a 20 percent greater uptick in post-training muscle-protein synthesis in subjects consuming 40 grams of whey protein compared to those consuming 20 grams. What didn’t make much difference was whether the subjects had low or high lean body mass.

As long as they had the higher amount of protein, they tended to experience a greater degree of muscle- protein synthesis.

How To Eat 40 Grams Of Protein Post-Workout

Although this study was small and the first of its kind, the results suggest that striving to consume 40 grams of protein post-workout is the way to go if you want to add muscle, regardless of your size. The authors speculate that this is especially true if you follow a total-body training style.

That’s because more muscle breakdown is occurring throughout the body compared to a single-body-part split. “Speculate” is the operative word, though. Single-body-part splits were not included in this study.

Rather than having to face two monstrous chicken breasts after your workout, consider one of these seven muscle-building meal combinations to meet your post-workout protein quota!

You can sprint intervals, cycle in intervals, even incorporate resistance into your interval training. For those who want to try something new and different, a study published in the Journal of Sports and Conditioning Research looks at what you can achieve from interval training in an Olympic sized pool.

Scientists assigned 24 former competitive swimmers to swim freestyle intervals at 50 meter or 100 meter distances. The 50 meter swimmers did 12 to 16 bouts with 15 seconds of rest between each. The 100 meter swimmers did 6 to 8 bouts and got 30 seconds in between.

After 8 weeks of training, both interval distances improved 100 meter and 400 meter swimming performance with increased stroke length and greater maximal aerobic speed. There were no significant differences between groups, and 50 meter sprint times remained unchanged.

When you’re cutting calories, you’re likely to lose weight. But some of that weight is going to come from lost muscle mass rather than body fat. A study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise suggests a tactic that can help preserve muscle mass while trying to shed body fat.

Researchers put overweight inactive women on a calorie restricted diet, enrolled them in an endurance exercise program or both protocols for just over 16 weeks. Calories were reduced by 10% to 20% and endurance exercise amounted to 7.4 hours a week for the exercise only group or 4.4 hours per week for the exercising calorie cutters.

All groups ended up losing around 7% of their original body weight, and the calorie restriction group lost about 2% muscle mass. The calorie reducing exercise group only lost around 1% muscle mass and the exercise only group didn’t lose any.
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Back in 1953, researchers discovered that London bus drivers had a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease than conductors working the same bus. It was the difference between sitting all day and moving around. A new study published in The Lancet looks into the level of exercise needed to negate the effects of driving to work and sitting at a desk 8 hours a day.

Scientists analyzed 16 studies involving more than 1 million adult subjects and grouped them by level of daily exercise. They found that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day was enough to make up for the risk created by being inactive for more than 8 hours a day.

Need another reason to keep active? Research from the University of Central Lancashire suggests you’re more likely to reach for unhealthy food choices after completing or boring task. Not only does boredom influence decisions about food quality, it also seems to play a role in the quantity consumed.

Forty-five subjects snacked while watching either boring or funny videos. By weighing treat bowls after the video viewing, researchers determined how many healthy and unhealthy snacks were consumed. They theorized that boredom leaves you with low levels of the feel-good brain chemical dopamine, so we compensate by eating sugar and fat to stimulate its release. Going for a run might be a better alternative.

The estimated average requirement for protein is an amount experts believe will meet the needs of half the population. That number is increased by around 20% to determine the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) which is currently 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition suggests that value might be too low.

Researchers analyzed the protein intakes of 6 older men on 7 separate occasions using diets where daily protein intake ranged from 0.2 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. After analysis, they determined that a good RDA for those and younger subjects would be in the range of 0.94 and 1.24 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. That’s about 30% more than current estimates.

Bodybuilders have been known to carb cycle during a diet, increasing carbohydrate intake on certain days to trick their metabolism into not slowing down so much from caloric restriction. Endurance athletes like to load up on carbs before long distance race events, and a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) suggests going overboard with carb loading might be hard on your heart.

Researchers from Vanderbilt and the University of Alabama Birmingham gave 33 subjects a 264 calorie carbohydrate shake. This high-carb load suppressed the heart’s production of a hormone called ANP by 25% over several hours. Because ANP helps rid your body of excess salt and reduces blood pressure, restricting this process can contribute to salt retention and hypertension.

Cutting down for summer or a physique contest is one thing. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute in Jena, Germany found that cutting calories long-term can have both positive and negative consequences, as a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicinesuggests.

A few years back, scientists were able to extend the lifespans of worms, fruit flies and lab rats through caloric restriction. Sometimes they lived 50% longer than normal. More recently, tests on mice showed that 30% food restriction slowed the aging of stem cells while reducing production of blood cell lymphocytes used for immune defense up to 75%

Got a busy day ahead of you? Fuel up with a healthy breakfast and make sure you get a fair share of protein. A study on obese and normal weight children published in The Journal of Nutrition suggests protein at breakfast can increase both energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

Some subjects were fed a breakfast with a macro-nutrient distribution of 21% protein, 52% carbohydrates and 29% fat while others sat down to a meal of 4% protein, 67% carbohydrates and 29% fat. The average rate of fat oxidation for all subjects was 16% higher with the high-protein breakfast, and overweight children burned more energy in the 4 hours following the high-protein meal.

True Strength Moment: Because approximately 1 out of 3 children between the ages of 2 and 19 are considered obese, this is important research. Subjects also reported a greater feeling of fullness after the high-protein breakfast, even though all subjects consumed about the same amount of food at a buffet later in the day.

When training for muscle gain we push our bodies to places they haven’t been before. The structure of our routine changes – weights increase and the intensity of workouts increases too.

We understand that in order to build muscle and size we must create a stimulus that challenges us, causing our muscle fibres to breakdown, repair and adapt (grow). Training within our comfort zone will only allow us to maintain our existing level of strength and fitness. By placing more demand on our bodies, it becomes paramount that we are eating the correct foods and taking the right supplements to promote the process of recovery.

Active adults who train intensely typically choose complete proteins containing all of the Essential Amino Acids to kick-start recovery. A new study from the University of East Anglia found a correlation between regular consumption of 7 amino acids from meat, fish, dairy, beans, lentils, broccoli and spinach, and cardiovascular health.

Examining data on 2,000 normal weight women in the TwinsUKregistry, researchers found evidence that higher consumption of these amino acids might be associated with lower blood pressure and less arterial stiffness.

True Strength Moment: The 7 amino acids singled out in this research were arginine, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, leucine and tyrosine. An interesting mix of Essential, Conditionally Essential and Non-Essential amino acids.

Everybody wants a lean, muscular physique. Like anything worth having, wanting it isn’t enough. You have to commit to a rigorous diet and training program that will tax your strength mentally as well as physically. To help you satisfy both of these demands, ON’s Essential Amino Energy combines a powerful ratio of rapidly absorbed free-form amino acids with natural energizers and N.O. boosting ingredients to help you reach your next level – including muscle-building BCAAs and arginine to help support intense, vascular pumps.* At 10 calories per serving, it’ll make a big impression without denting your diet. Mix up Essential Amino Energy anytime you want to dial up mental focus, physical energy N.O. production, and recovery support.*

Consuming a lot of white bread, white rice and sugar sweetened soft drinks can go to your waistline, and research from Columbia University Medical Center suggests it can also weigh heavily on your mood. Analyzing data from 70,000 older women who participated in the National Institutes of Health Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study between 1994 and 1998, researchers found that consuming highly processed carbohydrates can elevate the risk of depression.

Most active adults supplement creatine to build muscle size, strength and power. Numerous studies have shown creatine monohydrate to support these goals, and research recently published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercisesuggests the ingredient might also support bone mineral density in older adults.

Forty-seven older women supplemented with 0.1 gram of creatine per kg of body weight or a placebo while training with weights 3 days each week. After a year, subjects who used creatine showed a reduced rate of lost bone mineral density and greater bone bending strength compared to placebo.

In addition to improved bone health, subjects who supplemented with creatine increased bench press strength by an average of 64% compared to 34% for subjects who were given a placebo.

Carnitine is synthesized from the amino acids lysine and methionine. Many active adults use it in supplemental form, but its impact on exercise performance isn’t well understood. Research published in the journal Cell Metabolism shows how this popular ingredient works with an enzyme called carnitine acetyltransferase, or CrAT, to increase muscle stamina in mice.

Scientists created a group of mice with CrAT deficiency in skeletal muscle. Compared to normal rodents they tired of exercise earlier. Then both groups were supplemented with carnitine. As expected, there was no change in the CrAT deficient mice. But the normal mice showed an even greater tolerance for exercise.

True Strength Moment: Researchers think that carnitine works with the CrAT enzyme to optimize muscle energy metabolism in mice. How or even if this mechanism works in a similar way for humans is unknown.

Gains aren’t made in the gym. That’s where muscle tissue is broken down. Size and strength is built up when your muscles recover from the breakdown of resistance training. So how long does this process take? A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Researchsuggests the duration might vary between exercises.

Sixteen men in their mid-20s with significant weight training experience performed 8 sets of preacher curls with one arm and seated rows with the other using 10 reps max resistance. Peak torque decreased 15.1% for multi-joint exercise and completely recovered 24 hours post-workout. The decrease was 26.8% after single-joint movements and peak torque remained 8.4% lower than pre-workout measurements 24 hours later. Delayed onset muscle soreness was also greater and took longer than 72 hours to recover for the single-joint movement.

True Strength Movement: This research shows the importance of changing up your training day to day. If you don’t give your muscles enough time to fully recover, you might be robbing yourself of some hard earned gains.

Doing cardio on an empty stomach, usually first thing in the morning, is supposed to help you burn more body fat than eating before your run, ride or swim. But is this scientific fact or just another popular gym myth?

A study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition compared the effects on 20 young female subjects who adhered to a hypocaloric diet for a month. Half of these subjects put in an hour of steady state cardio exercise 3 days a week without eating since the previous evening. The other half eat breakfast before training. All adhered to a diet designed to burn more calories than consumed. At the end of the program, both groups lost weight and reduced fat mass.

Conclusion: There were no significant differences between groups. As long as you’re cutting calories, having a small, balanced meal before training might outweigh the benefits of not eating first.

Endurance runners aren’t a common sight in the weight room, and they typically don’t spend a lot of time working on sprinting speed, but a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiologysuggests a workout combining both elements might help improve race performance along with running economy.

Half a group of 21 male runners continued on with their normal endurance training while the rest took part in an 8-week intervention that added 30-second sprints and heavy resistance training to their workouts. Twice a week they lifted weights at 80% to 90% of their one rep max (1RM) and twice a week they sprinted in blocks of 30 seconds while reducing the time they spent on traditional endurance work by 42%.

After 4 weeks, the sprinting and weight training group cut around one and a half minutes off their 10K race time. There were no additional improvements in 10K performance after 8 weeks, but they did see quicker times in 1500 meter events. Compared to subjects who never changed their training, the experimental group finished about 15 seconds faster.

True Strength Moment: Whether it’s more than a minute shaved off a 44-minute event or cutting 15 seconds off a 5-minute race, taking your training to a place where others don’t can make all the difference.

Everybody keeps track of their fitness journey in one way or another. If your benchmark is setting a new personal best, and you’ve reached a sticking point on squat performance, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research offers a variable resistance warm up that might help you grind out a higher one rep max (1RM).

After determining squat 1RM for 16 recreationally active men in their mid-20s, on separate occasions these subjects returned to perform 2 sets of 3 reps using 85% of their 1RM with free weights or banded free weights where band tension generated 35% of the load. 1RM squat was then tested 5 minutes after this short workout. Variable resistance significantly increased 1RM on the final lift.

True Strength Moment: Band resistance potentiated maximal lift performance without changing knee angle or muscle activity. It only slowed the velocity of concentric and eccentric contractions. Give this technique a try to see if it can help boost your best effort on leg day.

Essential fatty acids help facilitate muscle growth in a number of ways. One such way is through the formation of eicosanoids –molecules which exert control over bodily systems such as immunity and inflammation, and act as molecular messenger in the CNS (central nervous system). Eicosanoids can also be classified into prostaglandins, leukotrienes and thromboxanes. Prostaglandins are of the most importance to muscle growth. They:

These functions are critical to achieving muscle growth during intensive training. In addition, EFAs powerfully affect the formation of fat tissue and fat metabolism. All the Omega-3s increase the breakdown of body fat; they also encourage the body to burn stored fat as fuel.

Beyond the immediately apparent effects on muscle growth and body composition, essential fatty acids help reduce inflammation, heal injuries, speed recovery and strengthen the immune system (important when engaging in repetitive movement with heavy weights and physical exertion that can weaken immunity); and improve sleep, concentration, stamina, increase blood-oxygen levels and improve cardiovascular function (all of which lead to more effective and intense workouts).

Getting Enough

Research shows that to maximize muscle growth, decrease body fat and improve general health, men may consume between 3 and 3.5 grams of EFAs from all sources (food and supplements) daily; women may consume between 2.5 and 3 grams from all sources daily.

Sources

Essential fatty acids are found in foods and supplements. The downside of food sources is that many (fish and fully pastured – grass fed – cattle being exceptions) are higher in Omega-6 than Omega-3.

Supplementing with Optimum Nutrition’s Flaxseed Oil or Fish Oil remains the easiest way to get your daily recommended value of EFA’s.

There are more than a few grams per pound and grams per kilogram protein recommendations out there for you to calculate. But an easier to hit target was presented in an education session at SupplySide West.

According to the research, the average daily protein recommendation of 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight works out to around 50 grams a day for normal size adults. Because this represents the minimum amount of protein needed, it was recommended that less active adults get at least 90 grams of protein per day and very active adults aim for a total of 120 grams of protein per day.

True Strength Moment: Since we’re all a little different physiologically speaking, this generalized protein benchmark won’t likely produce the same results for everyone. It might be a good starting point for figuring out the best daily amount of protein for your needs. Try it out for a month or two, and adjust as needed to support 2014 goals.

You’ve probably heard that averaging less than 6.5 hours of sleep a night or getting more than 8.5 hours of sack time is associated with a higher percentage of body fat. A new study published in theAmerican Journal of Health Promotion confirms these findings while suggesting that going to sleep and waking up at a consistent time of day is a habit related to lower body fat.

Researchers studied the sleep habits of 300 female college students over several weeks. They found that subjects with more than 90 minutes of daily variation in their sleep and wake times tended to have more body fat than subjects who adhered to a schedule that varied less than 60 minutes day to day.

True Strength Moment: Training yourself to go to bed and wake up pretty near the same time each day is simple enough, and to increase the quality of your sleep keep the temperature of your bedroom low while making the environment as quiet and dark as possible. Regular exercise also contributes to sleep quality.

Suggested On Product

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High Intensity Interval Training is popular with active adults who appreciate an intense workout even when they’re short on time. The results can equal what you’d get out of a less intense workout lasting twice as long. A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise examines what added intensity brings to your game.

Researchers had inactive female subjects in their mid-20s engage in high or moderate intensity interval training on a stationary bike. The high intensity workout was performed at 80% to 90% of capacity while moderate cycling was restricted to 60% to 80% of maximum effort. All subjects completed six and ten 60-second sets separated by active low intensity recovery. They trained three times weekly for a total of 12 weeks. Fat oxidation was more dramatically increased with HIIT, but neither group realized significant improvements in body weight, fat reduction or waist circumference.

True Strength Moment: The study brief didn’t mention anything about diet, so it’s hard to know what these subjects were eating during the 12-week program. Fat oxidation was increased for both groups, so that’s a positive development. Unfortunately, it only makes a difference if training efforts are complemented by sensible eating.